A Hidden Life
by RedRubyStorm
Summary: When the Jellicles are hidden and scattered amongst the humans, who have never seen or heard of anything like them, what happens if they get found out? T because I'm paranoid that way.
1. Chapter 1

**I know. The plot bunnies must die. I won't say anymore on the story. Other than I really need to stop getting more ideas. I can't manage all the stories I have right now, partly because of the ever so cursed Writers' Block.**

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_Katie's P.O.V. _

My friend, Caitlin, was blabbering on and on about something. I really wasn't paying much attention. All I knew it was about some musical or another, RENT, maybe it was? I was having more intimate thoughts.

I knew I couldn't keep going on like this. She would find out sooner or later - probably sooner. You see, my family and I, well, none of which was related to me by human blood, we're something that you've never seen before. Not that I sound full of myself or anything, but we are. If you look closely enough, there are things about us way different from normal humans.

A glint in our practically glow-in-the-dark eyes? Not human looking.  
The way we're built? Lean, slim. Like a hunter. Not a shoot-with-a-gun hunter, but almost like a cat.  
Our balance? Fall on our head, land on our feet. Rarely fall anyway. Not very human.  
Do we -my family, who again, isn't related to me by human blood- disappear at least one night a year? Yep. That's the only time we can truly be ourselves.  
Do we usually go out every night anyway? Yes. We're not really normal.

There's something different about us. That's why we're so hesitant to hang out around normal humans, that's why we tend to group together when we're in human form. Caitlin was my exception - most of us have one. We call ourselves Jellicles when we're all together, otherwise we call ourselves by our Everyday Names. When we're by someone normal. My Everyday Name, for instance, is Katie. Katie Dietrich.

You see, as I said, we're nothing you've ever seen before. The Jellicles, really, are a tribe of cats. Us. We are the Jellicles. We turn into cats freely. But we're never exactly human, all the things I mentioned before might get us caught. I'm terrified the humans will find out… but then what will happen?

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**Good? Bad? Confusing (Well, I tried to make it a bit confusing)? A little short, I know. I can't make the intro to a story long. I don't really know why, but I can't.**


	2. Chapter 2

Caitlin snapped her fingers in front of my face, snapping me out of my reverie. "Katie!" It took me a moment to snap back to here, human form, and to remember that the humans knew me as Katie. "Were you listening?"

"Uh... a little?" She shook her head sadly at me, as if there was no hope, which, now that I think of it, there's probably not. Caitlin was tall for a human (I was still taller than her in human form, in fact, most of us were), with dark brown hair, brown eyes, a bunch of freckles, and she was considerably pale. She was also pretty athletic, but had trouble keeping up with us -the Jellicles, or, the ones that looked like teens. We probably shouldn't show off like some do, but, as usual, I was in the sensible minority on that front.

It was then that her phone in her pocket decided to ring. I heard a few notes of some new rock song before she picked up, "Hello?" I listened to her side of the conversation, "Oh crap! Sorry! I'll be there in like five minutes!" She closed her phone with a slight snap, grinned apologetically at me, and said quickly, "I have to go. Forgot about my brother's game. Supposed to go." She picked up her bike, which had been lying a few yards away, and called to me before racing away, "It's at the stadium! You can come if you want!" While she rode away, I looked at the sky, speculating. It looked like it would be dark soon... nah, I won't go. Besides, I grinned to myself, who knows what we'll do tonight.

Later on, I looked around, deciding it was safe enough to transform. You see, technically, I don't have a human house. There's one that we keep for when we're in human form, for the school bus to drop us -the teens and kids- off at, and if a human gets curious, we can take them there. Usually no one sleeps in it though, we usually sleep in dens in a Junkyard that we stay at as cats.

I felt the familiar-yet-uncomfortable sensation, my human ears shrinking, others elongating out the top of my head, myself shrinking and stretching, claws growing, nose changing, the works. I'd have to say the most unpleasant part of it is the fur growing. It's just - weird. You'd have to experience it yourself -though you probably never will, unless _they _affect your life too- to know what I'm talking about. The way we got like this... trust me, it wasn't a walk in the park. Dark, broken images filled my mind for a moment before I shook my head, hard, and trotted down a sidewalk towards the Junkyard. The Jellicle's Junkyard.

The moment I walked in, I was summoned by a squeal, "Vicky!" That was my Jellicle name. Victoria, Vicky for short. My fur was pure white, and I had green, practically luminescent eyes. The person who'd squealed was bouncy little Etcetera, who actually was only a few months younger than me, but acted _a lot _younger. This felt, I don't know, more natural somehow, to be in Jellicle form. Cat form. I used to be scared to call it that - cat form. See, I started off as human, then weeks, months, years of hurting later, and I was part cat. Scientists wanted to know how well they'd be able to do this to innocent kids. The ones older than me - Jennyanydots, Skimbleshanks, Gus, Old Deuteronomy, Munkustrap, Tugger, Grizabella, Bustopher Jones, Tantomile and Coricopat, Plato, Bombalurina, a few others- they'd all gone through the same thing. It was _after _me that they decided to try it while the kid -or kitten, depending how you look at it- was being developed, so they started trying that. There were a couple failures who didn't make it past being a toddler, then Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer turned out to last. I looked over at the two, cartwheeling away. Who knew how long they'd last? It was a harsh life. Then I looked over towards Bombalurina, who was sunning herself. She'd been getting a little rounder lately, who knew what her kid/kit would turn out as? Hopefully like us, hopefully. It was Tugger's kit, to no one's surprise. I looked around at everyone, Etcetera, who'd realized I was completely zoned out and decided to wait 'till whatever it was was done, to Electra, to Jenny, just around, at everyone. They were my family, I needed each and every one of them to feel complete. Well, maybe not Grizabella, who all the adults were excluding for some reason. I personally had nothing against her, but...

Then I looked at Etcetera again, deciding to stop the deep thoughts for now. A little group had formed, Me; Etcetera, who, as I said, was bouncy and acted younger than she was, with mainly white, but some brown in her fur; Electra, also a hyper kitten, who's fur was tortoise-shell with brown, and she easily blended into bushes, not to mention shadows; Demeter, who was quiet but spoke her mind, the exact opposite of her sister, Bombalurina, was black with gold stripes, and some white on her stomach; and Jemima, who was quiet, and small, with black, some white, and some scarlet/pink-ish fur, a little like Bombalurina's. These were my friends, or, at any rate, my princess (humans would consider us either girls or teens or pre-teens or something like that, I really didn't bother trying to figure it out.) friends. Then I realized she'd called me, "Oh. Hi."

She and the others just laughed. If it were anyone else, I would've blushed, but since it was them, I laughed right along with them. "So," Electra began, "How was everyday life to you guys?"

"Meh." Etcetera said, flopping down onto the grass, "People are so boring, and so slow. How do they deal with it?"

"Etcy, dear, your energy just makes them seem slow." Cettie stuck her tongue out at me, while everyone else laughed.

"Well, this kid was making fun of me -something about my eyes- and he wouldn't let it go, so I told Bombi, who pretty much punched him in the face. She got detention, like it matters." Demeter said. I laughed at the thought of Bombalurina getting stuck in detention. Her record was so bad already, she really didn't care anymore. It's not like she needed a good record to get into college, I mean, for God's sake, she was a cat!

Jemima shook her head, "You guys. Have you ever thought of, I don't know, a normal existence?" Electra laughed, I stood still, Etcy and Demeter looked surprised. You don't often see that from Jemima.

"Whoa. Jemmy cocking off? Excellent." Etcetera said, evil grin replacing the shocked look on her face.

All of a sudden, my ears started ringing really loudly. I clapped my paws over them, and curled up on the ground. I barely made out Electra say, "Oh, no. Again, Vicky?" I clenched my teeth and nodded the best I could.

Oh, yeah, there was one set-back to being created this way. I wasn't as flawless as the others -even the ones who had had to go through the same thing, all the experiments, after we were born. These attacks, Jennyanydots and Jellylorum, the medical cats, had determined to mean that I might lose my hearing completely.

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**[A/N] 2 chapters in one day? WIN. I usually try to keep my chapters in 800 - 1000+ range, but sometimes it doesn't work. Consider yourself warned. And, this is probably around the last chapter I'll post this weekend.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Lalalala. I use a Traffic Sheet, and I need thoughts on this. It is enjoyable for me to write (as almost every new idea is), but if no one likes it then I'll just take it off. Matter of opinion. Well, anyway...**

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I woke up in the medical den, the others had taken me here, and Jenny and Jelly had done the best they could, which truthfully, wasn't much. I was scared out of my mind, but I tried my hardest not to let it show. I mean... what was a cat without hearing? How would I hunt? Or sing, as it's in the Jellicle's nature to do? It was too much. Just too much.

Based on the amount of sunlight through the windows, and the fact I didn't hear anyone, it was probably early morning - around five or six. That left me time to get to the human school, should I choose to go. Since I'd had another ear attack, or whatever, yesterday this was a decision that mattered. Jenny walked in, cat form, of course, and said kindly to me, "Victoria, you better stay here today. We're worried about... you're problem."

I nodded, my stomach sinking. Crap. They're worried more than usual about it, that doesn't mean good things. I gulped, finding a lump in my throat. It just wasn't _fair, _the others didn't have to go through all the experiments, all the _awful _experiments that ruined my life until we escaped just two years ago, and even the ones who had gone through it all weren't as screwed up as I was. Why couldn't I just be _normal, _like I was meant to be. Then I reprimanded myself, a normal life would bore me to tears, and I knew it, but still. This sucked. It just, sucked. There was no winning, in my life. None at all.

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_Caitlin's P.O.V._

I looked around the school grounds, looking for the tell-tale white-blonde hair, lean, tall figure that was Katie. I didn't see her, specifically, but I saw some of the people like her. They weren't... exactly normal, any of them. But no matter how mysterious they may be, it doesn't affect my friendship with them. There was the one -Rose- with short, red-scarlet hair, who'd managed to get... pregnant. She was chatting with her sister, chin length black hair, also lean, with yellow, yes _yellow_, eyes. There was something off. Rose was a senior, then her sister, Daisy -flower parents? Maybe?- was a sophmore, like me. Then there were the silver-haired twins, -Juniors- with the same build as the others, who always seemed to be together, even in sync sometimes, their names were Cole and Tessa, though their names really didn't match their creepy personalities, like, at all. There were the other twins, both red-haired, Trish and Jake, who enjoyed acrobatics. All of their hair was short, every single kid here like that. There were also a few in the grades below me too. Now that I thought of it, there were a whole crapload of kids like that here. I don't know what's with them all, and doubt I ever will.

All of a sudden, I felt a light touch on my arm, and I jumped and whirled around to face them. It was some more of the unusual kids, it was, Celia, Juliana, and Evalynne. Evalynne was a boucy sophmore, then Celia and Juliana were freshmen. Evalynne began speaking, "Sorry, you looked a little lost. Vi-Katie is not coming today, she's down with some flu. So you wanna join us?" Did I bother asking how she knew this? No. I knew I would get a short, indirect answer, and that's all I'd be able to pry from them. So I saved my breath. Though I had no idea what the stuttering with her name was about. I saw the un-human-like gleam in their eyes, all three of them, and then I felt the need to join them... then the bell rang. Evalynne looked up at it - we'd been standing against a wall- gave a quick smile, then rushed away to her class, the other two followed her. Juliana, from what I could tell, almost never talked, and when she did, it was quiet. And the other two had no problem supplying words, or details. Huh.

I walked off to my own class -Heaven forbid I'd be three minutes tardy again- wrapped up in thoughts and questions I had no answers for.

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**[A/N] Not too exciting, or long. Just... let me get the plot rolling, and we'll be good.**


	4. Chapter 4

**To my first (and only - though last chapter got, like 8 hits) reviewer! Pixie Dancr: I won't give too much away in the Author's Note (I'll try and incorporate it somewhere in the story though) but Katie/Victoria was born a human, then the scientists somehow got a hold of her, and after a long time of experiments and hurting, she was part cat, as she is now. But she had a flaw: One that might make her deaf forever. It was after she was made that the scientists decided to try it while the embryo was being developed, and after a couple of failures, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer came out alright. Okay?**

**And, incase some of you couldn't quite tell, the human-cat names mentioned last time were: Rose as Bombalurina, Daisy as Demeter, Evalynne as Electra, Cole being Coricopat, Tessa as Tantomile, Trish is Teazer, Jake is Jerrie, Celia as Cettie, Juliana as Jemima, and obviously, Katie as Victoria. Got it?**

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_Victoria's P.O.V._

It was a long, relatively boring day for me until the others got back. The only thing that had me remotely worried was at one point my ear started, like, pounding. But I was okay, for the time being. Then the others got back, most in cat form already, a few crouching down behind some piles of junk and shifting down. It was slightly creepy how natural this all felt, but then again, half of us were made that way. The others -myself included- had had to go through a long time of pain, sickness, injections... I involuntarily shuddered. I hated it there. You can't imagine the capacity of how much I hated there. I don't know how they got me. Only Cori and Tanto did - their parents voluntarily gave them up. Maybe that's why they seem to be so mysterious and seperated from the rest of us. Oh, another thing, the scientists had some unintended other things happen as well as my hearing problem - a select few of us had powers.

Old Deuteronomy, our Leader, he could read minds, basically, and so much more that I don't know about. He just had a mystical air about him, if you get my drift.

Then Cori and Tanto, they were like half of each other - they had this, like, mind connection thing, that may be the thing that helps them be in sync all the time - intended or not. Cori could read other peoples minds, Tanto could control them, Cori can see the past (Like, he could see 1863 if he wanted), Tanto can see the future, but she can't really control what she sees. She can try to zero in on a person, but then she might see what they'll be doing in five seconds, or what they'll be doing in sixty years. Hers is very... limited, and, at times, not useful. But it makes up who the two are, really. I've honestly never seen them even the length of the Junkyard apart.

Then there was Mistoffelees, who was really hard to define. He had another identity, Quaxo. He randomly changes from one to the other - there must be some sort of fail in his genes somewhere. Quaxo was a telekenetic. Mistoffelees was a conjurer, who could make things appear out of nowhere -including missing cats- shoot lightning out of his paws, the works. A lot like human magicians, but he wasn't a total fake.

And finally, there was Macavity, the Hidden Paw, Napoleon of Crime, whatever else name you can think of along those lines. He was one of us, at a time. Something changed. Something with Demeter along with the escape. I don't know all the details, because Bombi had only told me that much. Alonzo and some others joked around - saying something about Monarch Programming. Jenny told him to shut his trap, basically, and made it so the others and I didn't know the meaning. And since it was so inappropriate in cat-form, I hadn't asked a human, in fear it was something ridiculously bad. He wasn't... good anymore. And as far as I knew, he looked the most un-human and the most un-cat-like. He was always sort of inbetween. Well, at any rate, he was quite and ugly cat. He gave up long before he left on taming his easily matted, wildly striped fur. He was lean, really slender, his ribs almost stuck out. And he had powers. He could shoot lightning, like Mistoffelees, but his wasn't used for show. It was more powerful, and if it hit you at the right spot, you'd die, instantly. He could levitate; the humans had no idea how to track him, because he could do this in both forms, well, so could the others, but none were as powerful as this, except maybe Old Deuteronomy. He was the master criminal, and since Demeter hurt him somehow, he's vowed revenge on all of this. So the total count right now for people after us: The scientists, who definitely were not okay with us escaping, Macavity and all his little real-cat servents.

And, of course, if the humans found out about us somehow, that would be really, really bad.

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Later on, I sort of stayed away from everyone, made a few disjointed conversations, but otherwise said nothing. Tantomile and Coricopat came up to me, moving in sync, to no one's surprise.

I didn't like the looks on their faces - espicially Tantomile's. They both said, though I'm reasonably sure the news was mostly from Tanto, "What you fear is true. It will happen soon."

Well, as you can imagine, that went over like a ton of freaking bricks in my mind.

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**[A/N] Thoughts, pretty please? This got too far in my mind to discontinue, though. And, if there's any confusion, ask me and I'll clarify.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ideas are bad things, sometimes, people who read this. Now I have two options... uh-oh.**

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I took a deep, steadying breath. I was at the schoolyard, and praying nothing would happen while I was at school. Though 'Evalynne' had vowed to stick to me like glue for the better part of the day, and when she couldn't, she'd get 'Jake' or someone to. Great.

I turned to her, not far behind me, and said, "I have to tell Caitlin; I have a majority of my classes with her anyway. I'll be OK, I swear. And if anything freaky happens then I know you'll only be a yell away."

She nodded, and faded back to where 'Celia' and 'Juliana' were. I shook my head at her retreating back, then turned around and scanned the students for Caitlin. Turns out I didn't have to, she came up beside me without me noticing. I hadn't heard her. Crap. But I could still hear various students talking, so maybe she was just quiter than usual. Or so I hoped. She immediately read my expression and something I couldn't identify flashed across her face before she composed herself and asked, "What's up?"

"Well, the sky," I gave a weak smile, and said, "Listen, Caitlin, I have to talk to you somewhere, er, private because -" I was cut off by the bell. Thank God.

She gave me a worried glance and said, "Alright? Study Hall? I have to stop by my locker first. Kay?" I nodded, slung my book-bag over my shoulder, and slouched off towards the Study Hall - which, for whatever stupid reason, 'Evalynne', Caitlin, and I all had first period.

Later on, the three of us were all sat in the back corner of the room. Our Study Hall "Supervisor" was pretty leniant, as long as we didn't sound like a herd of elephants, we were alright. "So, Katie, what was it exactly you wanted to tell me?" Caitlin asked, curiousity burning in her eyes.

I gulped. "Evalynne already knows this, but... well, Caitlin, I might go deaf. There's a large chance of it - that's why I wasn't at school yesterday."

Her eyes widened, "Katie, are you serious?"

"Why would I joke - ow!" My ears had started ringing again, and at that moment I was thankful 'Evalynne' was there. I clenched my jaw, and pressed my hands as hard as I could over my ears - as Jenny and Jelly had told me to. But I was afraid that this would be the last ear-ringing episode, that I wouldn't be able to have one again, that I wouldn't be able to hear at all.

'Evalynne's face fell as she looked at me, who was resisting the urge to curl up and scream, I was that scared. But if I did scream, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to hear it, and that I'd break down in front of everyone here, and that I might actually transform. So I just sat there, frozen, while 'Evalynne' made some excuse to the "Supervisor" and led me to the bathroom. It was so dang hard, not to cry. I was scared out of my wits. 'Evalyyne' glanced around, saw the bathroom was empty, took out a vent we'd used as an escape route before, then she leaned over while standing on a sink. Her hands rested on the edge of the vent, and then she transformed, using her front paws to pull herself into the vent. I honestly didn't think I'd be able to take my hands off my ears and actually transform while this was going on. And, as if on cue, 'Celia' entered the bathroom. She looked at 'Evalynne', I saw through hazy eyes, then at me, shook her head, and lifted me up, so my head was in the vent. Yes, we're weirdly strong that she could lift me up like that. But anyway, this was good enough for me, hands still pressed over my ears -I couldn't hear anything over the ringing anyway- I transformed, felt myself pull out of 'Celia's arms, and I was in the vent.

Electra mouthed -I could read her lips because I'd asked her to practice with me, when I knew the possibility of going deaf, but hadn't believed it- "Can you walk?" I gave her a brief not and slowly took my paws from my ears. The ringing got a little louder, making me tense my shoulders a bit, but otherwise I could walk, given I didn't break down.

We slipped through the vent to outside, and went to a conveniant grove of trees behind the school. It was there I transformed into a human again, just so I could clap my hands over my ears and walk. Electra looked up at me skeptically. I knew she was thinking, "_What if a human adult sees you?" _So I mouthed back to her, I didn't trust myself to talk because of the ringing, "I look old enough to be out of school." She shook her head and continued the walk to the Junkyard. I was biting my lip, the ringing and grown in intensity. Crap.

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When we got there, I shifted back down, and gently peeled my paws of my ears. It hurt, a lot. Immediately, Jelly was beside me, and off we went to the medical den.

Jenny's eyes widened when we got there, and that's when I broke down. Why? Because the ringing had stopped altogether. But I'd noticed I couldn't hear my own sobs, either.

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**[A/N] DUN DUN DUN.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Oh jeez. I am really starting to hate new ideas. Grr, sorry for the time skip, but the idea that just came to me is going to bug me for a while if I don't do it right now. So, I will.**

_Italics in quotations: Singing. _

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Well, it had happened. I was officially deaf. Yippee. That incident had happened a month ago. It drove me insane; people and cats avoiding me, talking extremely slow -as if I couldn't keep up with Etcy at her most hyper moods, which I totally could- the works. Teachers driving me insane, always looking directly at me and talking with a lot of emphasis on their words. Some things pissed me off -such as cat, bat, hat- and I'd become different than I had been before, more moody, if you could call it that. Though Etcetera and everyone else tried, they were a little more awkward than they'd been around me. Caitlin was the same way, but then again, I'd been spending a lot more time in cat form, because it was easier to rely on my other senses. Oh, and my other senses had increased a lot. There were a lot of things I missed from being able to hear, like music from my favorite band, being able to talk. I mean, I still talked and sang -though I never knew how it would turn out- but I was more comfortable singing or saying the same thing as another person, that person talking with me. In school I didn't bother, I just wrote down the answers.

I felt someone's eyes on the back of my head -I was in cat form, by the way- and I turned around to meet a glare. I glared back. It was Pouncivul. We'd used to be okay friends, but when my hearing went away he'd... changed. I was at the boiling point with him. It'd been this way since the week the change had occured. It was when I was still getting used to things -like, there was this thing, I could _sense _vibrations, like if someone was walking behind me, I can feel it- and I was pretty freaking scared. They'd changed my schedule at school too, I was in all my classes with 'Evalynne' and most of them with Caitlin as well.

Yesterday, Pounce and Tumblebrutus had been talking with us all; me, Demeter, Etcetera, Electra, and Jemima. Everyone'd been talking so that I could understand -not too slow, not extremely freaking fast, annunciating clearly, not slurring their words- then all of a sudden Pounce had started talking really fast, with his words slurred, and he said a lot. So I walked away. There was no way I'd even try to follow that.

So now I walked to my den, feeling bitter, and full of pent-up energy. Then I suddenly changed course and headed for a tree that had a hollow in it. This had become one of my places to just sit and think, and express myself at, because not a whole lot of cats spent time at that place of the 'Yard. Conveniant for me, huh? Plus, then I could talk and sing without having to care what I sounded like. Well, as long as I was quiet, anyway.

I kept thinking of all the crap Pouncivul had been doing over the last month, a lot of which was along the lines of what had happened yesterday. It made me feel like a deaf mutant freak - oh wait, I _am _a deaf mutant freak!

Then I imagined Pouncivul to be standing right in front of me, and my rage bubbled over. I began to sing, quietly, using muscle memory in my vocal chords,

_"If I'm a bad person, you don't like me.  
Well, I guess I'll make my own way.  
It's a circle, a mean cycle.  
I can't excite you anymore._

_Where's your gavel? Your jury?  
What's my offense this time?  
You're not a judge, but if you're gonna judge me,  
Well, Sentence me to another life." _I imagined my tone to be accusing, hopefully not loud, but then again, how would I know?

_"Don't wanna hear your sad songs!  
Don't wanna feel your pain!  
When you swear it's all my fault,  
'cause you know we're not the same._

_Hey!  
We're not the same!  
Hey!  
Oh, we're not the same!" _The acidic words were rolling off my tongue now, and I made no effort to stop them. Although, I had shrunken a little father back into my tree, because I may have been louder than I thought, plus I didn't really want to be seen when I was this venemous.

_"We're the friends who stuck together,  
We wrote our names in blood._

_Hey!  
But I guess you can't accept that the change is good,  
It's good, it's good._

_Well, you treat me just like, another stranger!  
Well, it's nice to meet you sir,  
I guess I'll go,  
I'll just be on my way out._

_You treat me just like, another stranger!  
Well, it's nice to meet you sir,  
I guess I'll go,  
I'll just be on my way out." _It was true. I was just another freaking stranger to him, well, maybe based on all the glares, I was a particularly loud and annoying stranger.

_"Ignorance is your new best friend.  
Ignorance is your new best friend." _The reason I sang that was, if I ignored him, the other girls would, and Tumblebrutus, having an obvious crush on Electra, would probably follow as well. And if Pounce tagged along, the others would catch on my mood pretty fast.

_"This is the best thing, that could've happened;  
Any longer and I wouldn't of made it.  
It's not a war, it's not a rapture.  
I'm just a person, and you can't take it."_ Well, technically, I'm a genetically enhanced person, but we'll put that fact aside for now.

_"The same tricks that, that once fooled me,  
They won't get you anywhere.  
I'm not the same kid, from your memory,  
Well, now I can fend for myself." _It was dang true I could fend for myself. I'd gotten pretty dang vicious over the past month, snide, rude, whatever. It's not exactly like I could be some pretty little flower while I was _deaf._

_"Don't wanna hear your sad songs!  
Don't wanna feel your pain!  
When you swear it's all my fault,  
'cause you know we're not the same._

___Hey!  
We're not the same!  
Hey!  
Oh, we're not the same! _

___Yeah, we used to stick together,  
We wrote our names in blood." _All the tribe had stuck together. When we escaped everyone sort of started to pull apart, starting with Macavity, who actually left us all. Good riddance.

_"__Hey!  
But I guess you can't accept that the change is good,  
It's good, it's good._

_Well, you treat me just like, another stranger!  
Well, it's nice to meet you sir,  
I guess I'll go,  
I'll just be on my way out._

_You treat me just like, another stranger!  
Well, it's nice to meet you sir,  
I guess I'll go,  
I'll just be on my way out._

_Ignorance is your new best friend,  
Ignorance is your new best friend!  
Ignorance is your new best friend,  
Ignorance is your new best friend!" _I was fairly put off, and I knew I wasn't quiet in any extent of imagination anymore.

_"__Well, you treat me just like, another stranger!  
Well, it's nice to meet you sir,  
I guess I'll go,  
I best be on my way out._

_You treat me just like, another stranger!  
Well, it's nice to meet you sir,  
I guess I'll go,  
I'll just be on my way out." _With that I let the tune -whatever it might've been- fall dead, and prepared to leap out of my tree, feeling a bit better.

However, I fell right back into the tree, because I'd seen a tail whip around a pile of junk.

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**[A/N] Paramore, Ignorance. Paramore is my absolute favorite band. Uhm... thoughts?**


	7. Chapter 7

_Etcetera's P.O.V. (A day after last chapter)_

I was searching for Vicky -cat form- because I really needed to know what was up with her. She'd blown off all of us a couple days ago, and over the past month she'd changed. She was easily annoyed, and she seemed to brood and seethe more. She'd become moody, really. And she didn't sing much to my knowledge anymore. Anyway, something was up, besides everything I'd mentioned. She was always around the south end of the Junkyard, too, though I have no idea why.

There she was, to no one's surprise in particular, at the south end of the Junkyard. She was curled up on an old discarded pillow, but she wasn't asleep. She was staring off into the distance. I briefly considered the fact that she may be contemplating her other name, but I pushed the thought aside. She looked up as I approached, though I have no idea how she could tell I was coming, as she was staring off into the other direction. She stared at me as I wondered how to start, and whether I should actually talk or just mouth. I often had this debate when it was just the two of us.

She rolled her eyes and said, "What?" I'd realized she didn't like to talk much anymore, she was probably scared that it'll come out as like, a squack and she won't even know. Poor Vicky.

So I decided to talk, then and there, and I sat down on the ground next to her. "Listen, Vick, Pouncival the other day..." I didn't speak too fast, and I annunciated. It wasn't the same around her, but I really was trying.

She rolled her eyes in disgust. "What about the little twit?"

See what I mean? She'd become more moody. She wasn't the same kid from our memory. "I... Vick, I found him yesterday crying. He mentioned your name. What did you do to him?"

She blinked: her new form of complete and utter surprise. "I... I was singing to myself; maybe he overheard..."

Well, this was news. "What exactly did you say? And was it directed at him? And -" She held up her paws, assumably to make me shut up.

"A little slower, please, Cettie."

Oops. I kept forgetting, I mean, at times it was so easy to! I slowed down a considerable amount, and repeated the two questions.

"Please. Why would I sing about Pounce? I was singing about how pissed off I was at everything. Because I couldn't well... hear. God, I miss it." I saw a moment of sadness reflect in her petite features. But I couldn't tell if the first part was true or not. By the way; she sounded fine while talking. I wouldn't of been able to tell had I not known in the first place.

"Well... can you go talk to him? Pounce was _crying. _He's obviously upset."

"I... I think not." She looked uncomfortable.

I shrugged, "Whatever." As I turned and walked away, I laughed to myself. Those two were crazy for each other, they just wouldn't admit it.

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**[A/N] Filler. I know. But this idea was also... forming. Next chapter I'll PROBABLY bring in another one of the main plot factors ^.^**


	8. Chapter 8

**If I say something like "Jemima's P.O.V." and not "Juliana's P.O.V." that means that character is in cat form, not human. But if I don't change P.O.V.'s then I'll have that characters say somewhere, cat form, or human form. Then, of course, Caitlin is human, so if she says anything about them (unless she notices a cat or something. I'm still debating about this) she's referring to human form. [There is a book reference. That would be A Series of Unfortunate Events, which I do not own. FYI]**

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_Victoria's P.O.V._

When Cettie walked away, my feelings, and brain, were muddled. I didn't like Pounce... right? I mean, he was an annoying little brat. On the other hand... I bolted upright. Someone had been stealing around towards the piles of junk to my right. I didn't know who it had been, because I'd only seen them out of the corner of my eye. I cautiously got up, trying to sense the dang vibrations. God, I hated this so much. I mean, I'd meant the change was good in me not having to live in fear anymore. But this wasn't much better, if it was at all. I peered around the corner and practically burst out laughing. Or, at least, I would've, if I wasn't worried at what a laughing fit might sound like.

There was Teazer, in about the funniest position I'd ever seen her in. She appeared to be stuck upside-down to a pile of junk, somehow. She saw me approaching, and a look of relief appeared on her small features. She and the other newer experiments who'd been created from birth were a little smaller.

Teazer started to talk, and though she was talking reasonably slowly, I had no idea what she was saying. I had problems around these twins, because of their accents. I just shook my head at her, basically signalling for her to shut her trap, and inspected what had happened. She must have been trying to climb the pile, and ended up getting her hind foot and tail wedged inbetween an old window frame, a tire, and what appeared to be an old box. I wasn't going to investigate what was in it. And Teazer must have attempted to flip out of it, and she'd gotten stuck upside-down. I shook my head, and what I assumed was a whisper, "Have you ever considered, I dunno, shifting?"

And I made out something along the lines of, "I was afraid that would hurt more."

I rolled my eyes and began the work of trying to get the window frame loose. I looked down at her and said, "You might want to consider getting ready to flip whenever this comes out." She nodded in response, obviously understanding I had trouble trying to figure out what she was saying. I must've seen Teazer attempting to flip her way out. Hoo, boy. The window frame came flying out of the pile, and Teazer began to slide down, scrabbling uselessly with her paws. All of a sudden, she did a back flip and landed on the grass at the bottom of the pile. I shook my head and went from large piece of trash to the next until I was back down. I nodded a good-bye and scampered away. I practically saw her back there, scratching her head, trying to figure out how and why I'd changed. I shook my head to myself, none of them understood. None of them would be able to understand. Ever. Except for maybe Misto/Quaxo, who also had a failure somewhere in his genes. Though maybe not as catostrophic as the one in mine.

I shook my head again, after I'd stopped running. I was around the center of the Junkyard now. I was fully convinced my life was such a mess, and that I'd never be able to have a cheerful long period of time. I felt like those orphans I'd read about in one book series or another, I didn't really remember, or care.

There was Misto, who suddenly switched to Quaxo. He scowled, probably in annoyance. He was the only one who might have an inkling of all this complete and utter shit I was going through. I started off towards him, then decided against it. As good as it would feel to vent to someone, it wasn't worth it. Nobody would understand. I felt myself going back into myself, the only place left to go to. Truthfully, I felt better this way. More independent, but a heck of a lot snobbier. God, I hated this.

I looked up, and my eyes automatically widened to about probably three times their normal size. There was Caitlin, looking down at our Junkyard, and the dozens of cats who were in it. Well, crap. Which, believe me, was a massive understatement.


	9. Chapter 9

Eventually, the other cats noticed too. Caitlin's long shadow had been cast over the Junkyard, and they noticed it wasn't just a cloud. I was beginning to think how obvious it might be if she looked close enough -my fur being almost the same color as my hair, everyone's eyes looking as they did as a human; I mean, come on, Caitlin had to've noticed that 'Daisy' had yellow eyes, _everyone's _fur looked as their human hair did, actually. Such as Bomba's scarlet, The twins' silver, The other twins' orange.- that we were also human. I saw some with darker fur disappear into shadows and bushes, and this was the first -no, the second time, I didn't like having bright fur when we'd escaped, either- time I didn't like having bright fur. I saw Pounce snicker and send me a look that said, "You're problem." I found Cettie and Electra beside me, they must have drifted closer. "I have a plan..." I muttered, "and that plan is... RUN!" I shouted, and shot passed Caitlin, to outside the gates. I didn't stop running until I reached a grove of trees I felt safe enough to transform back into a human in. I grew, and remained crouched on the ground. My hand scrabbled around -reaching for an outfit we'd put in there, because we'd discovered that whenever we transform back into a human, you're naked as the day you were born. But whenever we changed into a cat, we had to physically take the clothes off. Where they went if we didn't, I had no clue. I don't think any of us did. Maybe it appeared back at the lab we were raised in, I snickered at the thought. I wondered how many outfits Cettie, Electra, Demeter, Jemmy and I would've sent back there alone, based off of how many times we'd snuck out of school.

Well, now I was fully clothed, and was off to search out Caitlin, and if she was still at the Junkyard, get her the hell away. I'm sure Jenny was in a panic, probably noticing I -and possibly others- had run off. And, well, I hadn't been in human form for about a week. I'd decided to do the School In a Box thing, rather than go and attend public school. The School In A Box is where the government sends you a bunch of stuff -in a box, hence the name School In a Box- that was usually easy, and you had all year to do everything. Quite simple, really. So I hadn't felt the need to be in human form much. Caitlin was probably convinced I'd dropped off the face of the earth. Well, that was fine by me. I was beyond the point of caring, but this was a bit of an urgent situation.

I felt my hair and pulled a twig out of it. It must have been stuck in my head-fur. Well, that's a bit embarrassing. But I pushed the thought away. Instead, I set off to go get Caitlin away from my.. well, one of my homes. There she was, still staring in wonder at the cats below her. From what I could tell, no one else had moved.

I came up behind her, seeing Munkustrap's eyes widen farther -probably in relief or maybe it was seeing me in human form after all this time. I jump-stopped right behind her, making my bare feet slap loudly against the pavement. She jumped and whirled around, and the cats behind her all scattered.

Then she recognized me -my fur/hair had grown a bit longer, and it was quite noticeable- and smiled. Which was odd, considering how long she hadn't seen me for. "Well, well, Katie, what brings you to civilization?"

I thought through a couple snide remarks, then decided against it. Instead I settled for a puzzled look.

She shook her head and said-or, to me, mouthed-, "Just haven't seen you for a while."

Let me explain, if you don't understand; for teenage girls, not seeing each other for a week is equivalent to like a month. Why it is, I'll never understand. Well, then again, I don't really care. It's not like I'll ever be a regular teenager. I shrugged and said, "Been working at the school stuff."

She assumably snorted and said, "As if."

I'd been steadily leading her away from the Junkyard, and all of a sudden she frowned. "You know, there's a cat in the junkyard who's fur is almost the same shade as your hair."

I fake rolled my eyes -well, she didn't know it was fake- and said, "Don't be ridiculous." This was dangerous territory. I tried to make my movements as human-like as possible, rather than more feline, as they usually were, and tried not to let my face give anything away.

She just shook her head. I didn't think she noticed how I'd changed the way I walked. Or so I hoped, at any rate. I was also carefully watching her mouth, as I freaking had to to communicate.

Then she looked up, and I saw sadness glistening in her eyes. "Katie... can you come back? Life is hell without you. It's like I'm missing half of me."

Ouch. I didn't know if I wanted to go back though. All the teachers treating me like I'm mentally disable, kids making fun of me -whether it be posting a sign on my back that says "D.E.A.F." which they meant Deadly Easy Ass-hole Freak, (they're not the brightest. And, on the bright side, 'Rose' kicked their butts for it) or just making snide remarks behind my back because I couldn't hear- and just the fact of how annoying it was to communicate at all.

"I... I don't know..." How was I supposed to respond to that? I mean, I stopped going to that school because they were all being total asses. Going back seemed like walking into the lion's den. With this, I muttered an excuse and ran off, and took a route to the Junkyard that I could walk in the back way.

I was so confused. And not being able to hear my feet on the ground -A sound I'd taken for granted- brought tears to my eyes. It was just too much.


	10. Chapter 10

**Whoa. How did this get to chapter ten? O.e Maybe my friends are right in saying I have no life. One girl actually takes my books every now and then; saying I read too much and that it's illegal... I think she's one of those average Americans who only reads 3 books a year... xD**

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_*A few weeks after the last chapter. Katie's P.O.V.*_

Well, I'd gone back. How or why, I have no idea. Maybe it was the looks on Caitlin's face whenever I saw her. Maybe it was me not being able to stand being at the Junkyard alone with Jenny and Jelly and the others. Maybe I actually missed it. I really don't know.

But 'Evalynne' and Caitlin were at my sides for most of the day, or another member of the tribe was. Miraculously, 'Celia', 'Juliana', 'Evalynne', 'Trish', 'Jake', 'Daisy', Caitlin, and I all managed to get the same lunch period. Big mistake on whoever made our schedules's part, but we're certainly not complaining. I usually got the seat directly in the middle of our group, so I could follow what the heck was going on. No one went out of their way (such as speaking like a robot, like Pouncival has once or twice in my presence) to make sure I could understand, and if I was confused, I'd simply ask and usually 'Daisy' or Caitlin would explain. 'Daisy' would because she usually listens more than she talks, and Caitlin was never reluctant to give me help. Plus, those two were usually next to me, except for Demeter (or Daisy. However you look at it) had been sick recently, so 'Juliana' took her place next to me. 'Rose' had been taken to the medical den (they didn't want to risk the hospital, seeing as we have no idea what her kid/kit is going to look like) a few days ago, they say the time is near. Maybe that's why 'Daisy' has suddenly fallen sick, she was worried about her sister. I actually didn't blame her, because even if the... thing got out, it might kill Bombalurina, to be blunt. I didn't want to consider that. As I believe I've told you before, I needed each and every cat at that Junkyard to go on.

But currently I was on my way back to the Junkyard, abandoning my book bag in the house that practically no one uses, and I decided to shift there too. As I started out the cat flap we had there -obviously for good reason - I ran into a pair of legs. I could tell right away these weren't legs of a Jellicle, and I'm reasonably sure my eyes must have widened to the size of dinner plates. Then I felt myself being picked up and I bit my lip. My thought process was along the lines of, _Please, no. God, no. Set the cat down or be clawed in the face. _

But of course, seeing as nothing goes my way, I wasn't put down, instead I was brought face to face with Caitlin. Again, I was faced with hoping with all my might that she wouldn't recognize my fur as practically the same shade as my hair color. "How many cats do these people have?" She asked, assumably, herself. "I've never seen this one before." With a sigh, she set me down and rang the bell. I flat-out ran to the Junkyard, praying she wouldn't follow me. Thankfully, she didn't. Although I have no idea where she went after realizing no one was going to answer the door. And, though I didn't know it at the time, no one would answer that door for a long, long time.

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**[A/N] Short chapter with a cliffie? Don't kill me. Although, if you did, then you wouldn't know what I have in store for y'all next. HA!**

**And in school, they're making us writer personal narratives for the billionth time in our school careers. There were seperate prompts, I picked the one about "Pick your favorite place and write about it. It can be indoors, outdoors, or even imaginary..." Know what I'm saying my favorite place is? The Jellicle Junkyard. That's write, Ruby pwns the school system, once again. xD**


	11. Chapter 11

**Some of you (well, possibly all of you) are going to be racing at me with pointy objects. Just a prediction. I'm sorry, but well... uh, I'll just write now...**

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_Katie's P.O.V. (the next day)_

Blech. History class. This particular teacher was a total jerk about my disability - always looking directly at me, speaking really slow, despite 'Evalynne' and my attempts at telling him I didn't need that. Does he even listen to students? I don't think so. I'd noticed the other kids had realized that having me in their class meant they could screw around a lot more. The only people I noticed paying rapt attention were Tanto and Cori, but for all I knew they could've just been having a mental conversation.

All of a sudden, I felt 'Evanne' sit up straight, saw the twins crouch to the floor -almost looking prepared to shift- and saw the mouths of several human girls open wide, assumably because they were screaming. I looked around, wondering what the heck was going on. 'Evanne' looked at me an mouthed -assumably- _"Macavity." _

I felt my eyes widen without me even thinking about it. Macavity was here? At the school? Why? What was going on?

Tantomile (herself being the one to control minds) pushed a thought into -well, probably 'Evalynne's head too- and said, _"He's coming. We'll have to shift." _

I thought back, assuming Cori would pick it up, _"No, Tanto. There is no way. We'd all be exposed!"_

Tantomile glared and thought back, _"Would you rather be slave to Macavity? Or even brought back to the lab?"_

How was she always so calm? But I had no choice, but argued back rather feebly, _"Hell, no! But there has to be some other way."_

_"I've Seen it. This is the only way." _

I looked at 'Evalynne', who was crouching on the floor as well, and had a resigned look on her face. That's when I knew I was screwed, so I figured I might as well shift, too. That's when the door busted open, and there stood the human form of Macavity. He was so lean is ribs practically stuck out. There was a murderous gleam in his eye - we all have a gleam in our eyes, too, but not a murderous one- and his jet-black hair stood up on end, with it's ginger tips. _"Wait 'till I tell you to..." _Tanto sent to us, and we both gave a barely perceptable nod.

The teacher was crouched behind his desk, the kids in various corners. Someone had tipped a table over a bunch of them, trying to protect them a bit. One bolt of lightning from Macavity's hands, and the table had a smoking hole in the middle. I saw the blood blossoming on the floor from under the table, and it made me shudder.

Then Macavity turned to us, who had ended up grouped in the middle. I didn't know where Caitlin was, and I prayed she hadn't got hit. He grinned evilly, firing a bolt at the twins. Tanto and Cori looked at each other and ducked, and because of the angle, it hadn't hit 'Evalynne' and I. I saw the top of Tantomile's head had been scorched, and realized how close of a call that was. _"Now!" _came a shout into my head, and realized that Macavity had made one of the windows fall out. Despite the situation, I grinned. That was perfect. I immediately ran for the window, and shifted in mid-air on the leap out. I was praising the scientists for getting at least one thing right on me - I was the fastest shifter of us all. Hence why I didn't have to crouch to shift in this instance.

The others had to crouch, but were out the window a second after I was, Electra -and what a relief it is to call her her real name- bringing up the rear. Several lightning bolts shot after her, but she wasn't hit, thank goodness. "Come on," Tantomile said, a sad expression on her face, and she nodded towards the front door, where more cats were coming out, I recognized Cettie and Jemima in the crowd stream, "Let's go. Back to the Junkyard."

I found, as we were running back, I had tears in my eyes. The humans knew. We wouldn't all be able to stick together again. The Jellicles would break apart, and remember how I said I needed each and every one of them to feel complete? Well, that was going to have to change.

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**[A/N] Well, maybe you won't kill me. I changed my mind. But I may or may not have internet access over the weekend, so I can't tell you whether or not to expect an update.**


	12. Chapter 12

_Victoria's P.O.V. (The next morning)_

I sat in a corner of the central clearing. There was a small space between an old fridge and the TSE 1 that I found I could squeeze into, and that's how I was now, with my armswrapped around my white, furry legs. From here I could just sit and watch what was going on. Last night had been chaos. First, Bombalurina had gone into labor, Demeter had spazzed, and everyone else was freaking out about what to do from here on out. Obviously we couldn't all travel in one big group anymore. We couldn't set up a permanent residence. But we couldn't all just go off on our own, either. Old Deuteronomy had ordered everyone but Munkus, Skimble, Gus, and himself to go to sleep. Electra and Cettie spent the night with me in my den, Jemima was helping Demeter, who had stayed with her sister.

I felt the need to be a true Jellicle once again, and went off towards the tree hollow, but this time I just sat under the tree, humming to myself. Not that I knew what it actually sounded like, but I had a tune in my head that I hoped sounded the same. Then I sang again, praying everyone was in their dens packing, or whatever, I took absolutely nothing from mine.

_"I am outside,  
And I've been waiting for the sun.  
With my wide eyes,  
I've seen worlds that don't belong.  
My mouth is dry with words I cannot verbalize,  
tell me why we live like this." _I'll admit it, I was in shock. And by 'waiting for the sun' I meant I was waiting for some shred of understanding. And my mind kept flashing back to yesterday, the blood... seeing Macavity again... almost losing Tantomile...

All of a sudden, Pounce was sitting next to me. I hadn't felt him coming, and I prayed he wasn't just here to make fun of me one last time. But his face was different, it was tender... and caring, somehow. Different.

But I ignored this and continued singing, but this time it wasn't to myself, it was to the handsome tom sitting next to me,

_"Keep me safe inside.  
Your arms like towers,  
Tower over me._

_Yeah,  
'Cause we are broken,  
What must we do to restore?  
Our innocence?  
And oh, the promise we adored?  
Give us life again, 'cause we just wanna be whole."_

I put my head against his shoulder. My feelings for him had changed. I was sure, now. But I felt like I was missing a tail, or something. The humans knew. We wouldn't all be able to stick together anymore. And I would feel like over half of me was missing when we all actually sperated.

_"Lock the doors,  
'Cause I'd like to capture this voice.  
It came to me tonight,  
So everyone will have a choice.  
And under red lights,  
I'll show myself it wasn't forged.  
We're at war.  
We live like this." _

We were going to live like this - all broken apart. Not whole. Maybe the only time we would be whole is the Jellicle Ball - but that's only once a year. It will never be the same. Although songs often have double meanings, and since this came all on inspiration, I'm not entirely sure what exactly I meant through all of it.

_"Keep me safe inside.  
Your arms like towers,  
Tower over me._

_Yeah,  
'Cause we are broken,  
What must we do to restore?  
Our innocence?  
And oh, the promise we adored?  
Give us life again, 'cause we just wanna be whole."_

He seemed to be understanding what I was getting at. Even if I sounded completely tone deaf, he'd still be able to understand the words, and hopefully the fact that I really did like him. And every last one of us had promised to keep our secret away from the humans - one that we'd honored until yesterday. But what was more important, life, or a promise we'd adored?

_"Tower over me,  
Tower over me. _

_And I'll take the truth at any cost!_

_'Cause we are broken,  
What must we do to restore?  
Our innocence?  
And oh, the promise we adored?  
Give us life again, 'cause we just wanna be whole."_

He pulled me closer, and I buried my head in his fur. He pulled me away, so that I could see what he was saying, and he said, "Victoria, if that meant what I think it did, than yes. I'll tower over you, I'll get together with you, so we won't be broken anymore."

I hugged him again. And I figured maybe, just _maybe _this wouldn't be so bad.

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**[A/N] Paramore. We Are Broken. I sincerely recommend listening to the song. And 2 chapters? I'm on a roll. Just pray that our hotel will have Wi-Fi!**


	13. Chapter 13

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I am not a fluffy, cheerful writer. So if my fluff sucks, that's why. Plus, at the time being, it's 1:30 AM. I got to the hotel... maybe, a half hour ago? Late nite in the city is insane. But I feel like I belong... weird to think I'll be back in the small town where sports are the only thing that counts again in less than 24 hours...

Pounce and I walked back to the others, where Jemima, Tumblebrutus, Electra, Etcetera, Bombalurina, who had a tiny queen-kit in her arms, Tugger, Munkustrap, and Demeter. Etcetera was glaring at Bombalurina at times. It appears she's still a member of the Tugger fanclub. Oh, Lord. It appeared the fact that we would all have to seperate had caused others' true feelings to come out as well. Demeter and Munkustrap were standing side by side, arms around each other, and Tumblebrutus had his arm casually slung over Jemmy's shoulder, but she didn't look willing to move it aside. I noticed Plato, behind everyone, looking at Electra with longing, but she was too busy grinning at me, while also smirking at me (which she's considerably good at - combining faces like that) and Pounce. He had his arm tight around me, and I noticed it made me feel a heck of a lot better. When we reached the group Electra wiggled her eyebrows at me, and I shot her a weird look. Electra can be hard to figure out sometimes, but it usually doesn't bother me.

Bomba was smiling down at her kit, and Tugger was smiling at her. They both had a touch in their eyes that was new, they looked more like a family now. The one little "accident" brought them closer together, just as the fact that we'd be leaving brought more people together as well. The kit looked a lot like Bomba, with a little more black, and it looked like she might have a bit of a mane when her fur got longer. "What a crappy time to be born into..." Tugger said, looking at his kit sadly.

Bombi nodded in agreement, but said, looking at her mate, "At least she has us." This wasn't the flirtacious Bombalurina, it seemed like the actual one.A Bombalurina who had been buried underneath the flirt all this time.

Then Alonzo came over and said, "It's been decided that we're all to split into groups of, like, four. If you'd join the rest of us for it."

Crap. Here was where we were all going to go our own ways. Where life would never be the same. Where we wouldn't be a complete tribe any longer.

Old Deuteronomy was standing on his tire. For the last time for a while, I thought, and it turns out I was right. "We'll let you separate into your own small groups, but every kitten must be with someone of age."

"Who does that affect," I muttered, "Bomba's kit?" It was true, as far as I could tell, she was the only one not of age. I think Jemima was the youngest of our little wave (it seemed that we'd been made -and eventually we'd be born in- little waves, or, I guess, generations) and she was a queen.

I was rewarded with an assumed laugh and a nod of agreement from Pouncival. So those of us who had been separate before separated from the other again, while we tried to figured out what to do. Electra started off, with usual tact, "Pounce and Vicky are obviously in the same group, same with Tumble and Jemmy, and obviously Bombi and Tugger." I noticed Etcetera shot Electra a sour look when she mentioned Tugger. It made me want to flying tackle pounce her, because, for God's sake, he has a kit now! It's time to let him go. I also noticed Plato had joined our group, as well as both pairs of twins.

"How about," I suggested, praying I didn't sound like a total retard, "Pounce, Tumble, Jemima, and me in one group, and Bombalurina, Tugger, their kit, Demeter, and Munkustrap as another." I got nods and various versions of "Okay" from everyone mentioned, so I decided to continue, "Then Electra, Cettie, Plato, and Mist-er, Quaxo in another. Then both pairs of twins?" I'd noticed the little magician/telekinetic join our group as well.

Again, various "Okays," and I turned to see what the rest of the 'Yard had done. It looked like Alonzo, his queen-friend Cassandra, her basically sister Exotica, and Gus in one group. Then Old D, Grizabella, Jenny, and Skimble in another. Jelly looked confused until what I'm led to believe is her father, Gus, waved her over. So make that Alonzo, Gus, Jellylorum, Cassandra, and Exotica. I saw Admetus and Gus Jr. high-five (Or, I guess, considering we're in cat form, high-four) and form a group of their own. It was so tempting to give up and cry, even though the groups could easily change over the course of the next few months 'till the Ball, but we'd still be all separate. There was no changing that now. The news of people being able to turn into cats would spread really fast, there was no kidding myself otherwise.

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**[A/N] The long drive served a purpose! Yaaay! Not really!**


	14. Chapter 14

**15 hits and no reviews last chapter? That's mean. And I haven't had much time to get on my computer, and when I have, my mind was on other things. Sorry. :/**

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_Katie's P.O.V._

We'd all left and separated a week ago. I felt like there was a gaping hole right in the center of my chest. It felt wrong without Electra and Etcetera, but Pounce was helping to make that go away. Well, actually, I'd like to say the pair of queens crossed my mind often, but they really didn't. I'll admit it, I thought I was in love. Jemmy felt the same, though we were closer than ever, too. Food had been scarce, because combined we didn't have much money. But now, I guess you could consider us streetcats, though we were in human form right now. Actually, we were in the city, where we figured four teens with questionable hygeine wouldn't stick out too much.

We passed a lady in a long, flowing dress, and I immediately stopped, and sniffed the air. I knew I was in human form, but my other senses had grown sharper when I'd gone deaf. Thus, my human sense of smell was almost as strong as a regular cats'. This scent was familiar, there was no mistaking it. I ran back and tapped the woman on the shoulder, "Gerty?" I asked, probably in disbelief.

She furrowed her eyebrows at me and answered, "Yes. Who are you?"

"It's me, Katie!" Actually, she knew me better by my other name, but I wasn't going to mention it while surrounded by a bunch of regular humans.

Her eyes widened, and I felt Pounce's -or, I guess you could say Peter's- hand on my shoulder. "What on earth are you doing here? And is this-" Her eyes widened even further. "Peter? Juliana, and Tyler?" I looked and saw Juliana's head bob up and down out of the corner of my eye. I had no idea if the others recognized this woman, and I didn't really care. This was help for us, a big one. I felt slightly guilty, being this fortunate, when God knows where my other friends were. Then she said something rather quickly, and I didn't understand it.

Peter had looked at me and recognized the confused look on my face. "Listen - Katie's deaf now. Just speak a little slower, please." He said, making sure I was paying attention.

Gerty's eyes softened a bit and said, probably a little quieter, "That glitch finally caught you, huh? I'm sorry. But Gary would be delighted to see you all again. My, you've grown. You weren't even of age last time I saw you." That was true. I hadn't seen Gerty for a long time. Actually, we didn't know what had happened to her, Gary, and the others. So this was a doubly good thing; we would be getting help and possibly a place to live, and we knew that this pair, at least, was okay. God, it had been a while.

As we walked through the crowded streets, I couldn't help wondering where Electra and Cettie were, and if they were okay. And how Bombalurina's kit (their group would have to stay in cat form for a while, until the kit/kid was old enough to understand shifting) was doing, and if Demeter was okay. This life was so different, and I wasn't sure whether I liked it or not.

Then I spun around in a full circle. Where had the others gone? There must have been a sudden turn I'd missed, or something. Great. Me, a deaf mutant freak, lost in a city, while Macavity was out and about. It was all I had not to just sit down and give up altogether.

But since I'm just funny that way, I went back and started to see if I could pick up a scent or actually see them. It's not as if calling out would help at all, seeing as I wouldn't be able to hear them if they called back. Well, that was just the way my luck had been over the last couple months.

I swore -assumably- under my breath. Great. Just great.

Then my heart soared -was that Pounce's smell? I thought it was, so I began to follow it, wishing I could just shift and follow it that way. But I figured that would be a little weird, even for the city. So instead I followed it on human feet, resisting the urge to crouch down and follow it on the ground anyway. But the scent lead me to a brick wall. I sat down, leaning against it, and cried. This sucked. Having to split up and everything else, it just sucked.

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**[A/N] Hit the button below as a bit of a Halloween treat? Happy Halloween!**


	15. Chapter 15

**You know, it's not always best to type with an oily substance in your eyes. Make-up remover, my costume for a party required a lot of make-up remover. Ugh.**

**Well, thanks for the reviews! And here we go...**

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That was when I suddenly stood up. That was Jemima's scent -actually Jemima- and I was sure of it. They must have gotten to Gerty's and shifted, or something. And sure enough, there was little Jemima, with her big blue eyes and petite paws to the ground. She looked up and saw me, taking in the tear tracks on my face and how defeated I must have looked. Why had I been crying? Oh yeah, because I lost practically all of my family a week ago.

"Come on," she meowed, knowing I would be able to understand, "Let's get you back." She knew how I'd felt. She'd listened to my daily rants about what a jerk Macavity was. Back onto the main street, a particularly tall person following a small cat wasn't noticed. Although Jemmy had to hiss at a few people who'd tread on her tail. I followed her easily through the crowd, because a Jellicle cat has a distinctive scent - especially if your nose is almost as good as a cats'. We arrived at a big house, and there Peter was, pacing across the front lawn. Had my disappearance worried him that bad? That actually could cause a problem, but I let the thought slip away.

He looked relieved to see me, as did Gerty. "Tyler, Juliana, and Gary went out looking for you. The other two will be back shortly." I noticed that she talked a lot slower than she had before. Oh, no. Not another adult like that.

I nodded, a sinking feeling in my chest. If she continued to do that all the time, I would snap. I knew it. I went inside, following Jemima, and almost stopped dead. This was a biiiiig house, alright. The carpet was dark green, with lighter overhangings on the walls. There was a big fireplace off to the side, and ritzy furniture everywhere inbetween.

I turned to Gerty, "What did you two do since I last saw you? Rob more Siamese ships, or something?"

She laughed, "Something like that. Or we could've won the lottery."

Oh. I looked around, where had Jem gone? But she came back as Juliana, shaking her head to fluff her hair out again. Or as much as it would fluff out, given the lack of ability to wash it recently.

Tyler walked in as himself, as did Gary. "Back, are ya?" Gary said to me, but there was laughter in his eyes.

"Pretty much," I told him.

Tyler was looking skeptically at the three of us - Gerty, Gary, and me.

"I still can't say I have the faintest idea who the pair of you are."

Peter came and stood beside him, the same look in his eye. Juliana stood at the edge, watching. The two behind me laughed, and I walked over to Peter, who put his arm around me without really thinking about it. Wordlessly, both "strangers" shifted down, revealing what I'd known all along. They were Griddlebone and Growltiger.

You see, apparently there was (and possibly still is) more than one psychopathic lab combining other animals' DNA with innocent childrens'. Griddlebone, Growltiger, Sillabub, Bustopher Jones, and possibly a few others I don't know about escaped from this lab around the same time we all escaped from ours. I mean, how independant can these crazy scientists be? They have to work together, don't they? How does that work out, exactly?

I saw Juliana's mouth drop open in an assumed gasp. "We didn't even realize it was you!" She said, her eyes wide.

"Katie did," Peter said, resting his head on mine. He was taller than me now. By a good five inches, although I was still growing. I think we all were.

"Well, that's only because her nose is doubly good than ours." Tyler complained.

I looked at him smugly. "Maybe I'm just better than you." I was kidding of course, so he only stuck his tongue out in response.

"Now, now, you guys." Gerty said, now back in human form. "I'll have none of that." Somehow, I got the impression she was fighting the urge to laugh uncontrollably.

After a while longer of talking and friendly bantering, I stood up, saying, "Gerty... is there a place I can crash? I'm exhausted."

She nodded, saying, "Of course. But how many rooms do we need...?" Her face betrayed no embarrassment, and I determined it to be a sincere question.

Oh, God. That was an embarassing question. Juliana and I met eyes, and I almost laughed. Instead it was Tyler, saying, "Four is good, please."

We were all of age, of course, so technically, that was an okay question. But still rather embarassing all the same. Plus, well, we were only in tenth grade. For our cat sides, that might be natural, but awfully weird in human.

"Of course, Gary can show the boys to rooms, and I'll take the girls." Gary groaned at Gerty's words, getting to his feet once more. He'd had a bit of a limp after an encounter with some Siamese... maybe two years ago?

Gerty led us up a flight of stairs, and pointed to a white door, saying, "This is the room Gary and I share." Then pointing to one a little farther down the hall, "That's the bathroom. And Juliana can stay here, and Katie, you'll be okay in that one." Juliana's room and mine were right next to each other, with two empty rooms on both sides. The bathroom was next to the empty room beside mine, and Gerty and Gary's were beside the one next to Juliana's.

I found a white bed in my room, and layed down on it thankfully. A comfortable, safe place to sleep. Finally. Or so I hoped.

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**[A/N] That was a little disjointed, I'll admit. But now you know who they are! Thoughts...?**


	16. Chapter 16

**I'll leave Vicky at a happy note. For now, anyway.**

**Thank you, reviewers!**

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_Electra's P.O.V._

I looked at Etcetera. Her, Plato, and Mistoffelees had all been rather gloomy and unresponsive over the past week. Obviously, this was not normal for Etcetera, or Mistoffelees, maybe it was for Plato, I can't really tell you. I didn't know him that well. But I did know this extreme anger I was feeling was not normal for me. I took a deep breath. This was not the Cettie I was used to, and I believed I needed the old one for myself to return back to normal as well.

We were in an old, run-down town, and we'd taken refuge in a house we assumed to be abandoned. It wasn't very comfortable, but it wasn't anything we couldn't deal with.

The anger I'd been feeling for days started to well up to the surface. So, of course, I decided to be like a real Jellicle once more, started to sing.

_"What a shame we all became, such fragile, broken things.  
A memory remains - Just a tiny spark.  
I give it all my oxygen, so let the flames begin.  
So let the flames begin._

_Oh, glory." _

I was _ready _for Macavity to attack. I wanted these empty shells of the people I once knew to come back, and maybe sheer anger was the answer to doing so.

_"Oh, glory._

_This is, how we'll dance when,  
When they try to take is down.  
This is what we'll be.  
Oh, glory." _

I pulled Etcetera to her feet, and danced around, trying to get that old spark back into her eyes. But she just looked... defeated. That was not the Etcetera I knew and liked.

_"Somewhere weakness is our strength,  
And I'll die searching for it.  
I can't let myself regret, such selfishness."_

I assumed the others were calling me selfish. Only because I'd refused to hunt for them, making them do at least that for themselves. One of the few things they would do to take care of themselves. Sure, we were all shocked, but they couldn't refuse the necessities of life - eating, drinking, sleeping. Which was about all they did these days.

_"My pain and all the trouble caused,  
No matter how long...  
I believe that there's hope, buried beneath it all._

_And..._

_Hiding beneath it all._

_And..._

_Growing beneath it all."_

Sure, we seemed to be stuck in an absolutely hopeless situation, but I did think there was hope, somewhere. Half my family was missing, but that didn't mean they were going to absolutely disappear from my life. Plus, I figured years and years from then, that people would forget, and that generation of Jellicles would be able to live in peace as we had. I figured it wouldn't be in my lifetime, but eventually it would.

And, hopefully, I would get the others' old spirits back, so the hope would also grow.

_"This is, how we'll dance when,  
When they try to take us down!  
This is how we'll sing out."_

Etcetera was starting to catch it. The fire was returning, I was very thankful for it. Would the Etcetera I knew return at last?

Actually, she sang with me, in a harmony I recognized probably from a previous Ball,

_"This is, how we'll stand when,  
When they burn our houses down!  
This is what we'll be!_

_Oh, glory."_

This felt natural. Sure, we were in human form, but I felt like a real Jellicle now. Sure, a run-down house wasn't the same as the Junkyard, and probably where we'll meet for the next Ball wouldn't be the same either, but we'd be together. We're all still Jellicles, no matter what.

She held the note on 'glory' while I continued,

_"Reaching as I sink down into light," _She joined me for the words 'into light,' and repeated 'to light' as I continued again,  
_"Reaching as I sink down into light," _And again, she repeated.

Then we burst out, leaning into each other almost in a crouch, fists clenched,

_"This is, how we dance when,  
When they try to take us down!  
This is how we'll sing out._

_This is, how we'll stand when,  
When they burn our houses down!  
This is what we'll be!_

_Oh, glory..."_

We let the note trail off and end, the magical moment gone. The fire was blazing in Etcetera's eyes. 'Duncan', who was Plato at lack for a better name, walked in along with 'Quigley', who was Quaxo. The mysterious magician/telekinetic only had one human form, for whatever reason, and he had both of his cat powers in it.

"Welcome back, Celia," I said slyly. Although I was really glad to see that old look on her face.

"Glad to be, Evalynne," She said with a grin. And we hugged, just thankful to be together and alive after everything.

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**[A/N] Let the Flames Begin by... well, I'm sure you can guess by now, but by Paramore. So... did you expect this?**


	17. Chapter 17

**I've just realized this isn't going to be completely cannon. Oh well. It doesn't -and never really has- matter to me. **

***Note(s) : The chapter I was GOING to post got deleted :/**

**I've also realized I have sad things planned for the future. I just have to figure out how to get there.**

**(Sorry there's not much going on in this. I hit a bit of a wall)**

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_Katie's P.O.V._

"Katie, we can't just assume that they won't hurt or betray us after all this time! Who knows what they've been doing over the past few years!"

Juliana was at her wit's end with me. It was probably somewhere around midnight, and we were both in Juliana's room. Her walls were white, the cover on her bed a dark green with what I assumed what was supposed to be a floral pattern across it. Her sheets were a slightly lighter green. The curtains, covering her wide window, were the same shade green as her cover. I was sitting cross-legged on her bed, and she was seated on a white chair that sat on her dark green carpet.

We'd both figured that since our sleep patterns were permanently screwed up, we might as well spend the long night hours together. It usually turned up this way - me tiring her with my endless questions. We'd been here three or four days, I didn't really count. For me, it was just another day we weren't caught - by the government _or _Macavity.

At the time being, the subject was Gary and Gerty. I was bent on trusting them, but Jemmy wasn't easily convinced. I sighed, "If Gerty really had any deadly purposes, why would she have invited us into her humongous home? Why would she even admit she was Gerty at all? Why would they transform to show you guys who they really were?"

"I don't know, Katie! I just don't know anymore." Her face darkened. Truthfully, I agreed with her. We weren't sure of a lot anymore. Really, all I cared about was that the four of us were alive, well-fed, and together. But I'd feel a heck of a lot better if the whole tribe was together.

That's when Juliana's cell phone began to buzz from it's place on the -surprise!- white windowsill. She snatched it up, and began to smile. I assumed she'd either gotten a text or an email from one of the tribe members- probably Etcetera or Electra, who's absence had probably been bugging us the most. She tossed it to me, and I grabbed it from the air just before it hit the bed.

Turns out it had been an email. Juliana had managed to get her phone subscribed to her email, so it told us whenever she got one. We'd decided to use her account as the group's.

It was from Electra.

_Am I the only one who can't sleep? I'm not kidding, everyone else is passed out somewhere on the ground. Vicky, you never really slept, so maybe you, at least, will read this.  
Truthfully, I'm just glad to have my friends back into it. It's like... like they all lost their personalities in my group when we split up. It made me really angry. Angrier that when you shredded my non-Goodwill pair of jeans to make a nest in your den, Vick. And I was like that ALL the time. Finally, I'd just decided to sing about it. But now, looking back, it's making me feel sad. When will we see everyone again? The next Ball? That's not enough, and it never will be. Freaking Macavity. It's all his fault. Every last bit of it._

_Anyway, if you'd ever feel the need to IM me (mostly, I've been resorting to a shabby library near here for my Internet purposes - this is an exception) the name's Electricat. FYI._

_~Leccy_

It made me smile. Remembering that day. I hadn't known they were Electra's jeans! I'd just thought some idiot human threw them away - one of the bad things about living in a Junkyard. It was not too long after we'd found the Junkyard, and I'd wanted my own den - rather than sharing with the others. So I'd found a location, and was looking for nesting materials for me to sleep in. Then, lo and behold, I'd found a perfectly soft pair of jeans! Well, eventually, I'd found out they were, well, Evalynne's. She'd been so mad. But, being the good friends we were, it had blown over. Eventually. Although Electra had made sure, from that day on, to keep her clothes tucked safely in the corner of the den she, Jemima, and Etcy had shared.

Juliana gave me a slightly happy, slightly pained look from where she sat, her legs tucked neatly underneath her, her black hair with scarlet ends (matching her coat when she's Jemima) framing her face.

"Should I answer?" She asked, not annunciating very clearly -it _was _pretty late- but I could still understand her. I knew she was thinking of what to say to her. I mean, we've never been apart. All of our cages (at the lab where we'd grown up - been taught fighting skills, undergone awful, _awful _experiments, you know, the usual. I mean, you grew up in one too, didn't you?) had even been near each other.

"I dunno," I said with a yawn, "But I really need to go to sleep now. G'night, Juliana."

I went to my room, not bothering to shut the door that adjoined our two rooms. We both felt more comfortable with it open - it gave us a feeling that we were together, safe, somehow. At least, that's how it made me feel.

Before I closed my eyes, I heard the faint tap of Jules pressing the keys on her phone. Then, I passed out as if a switch had been turned off.


	18. Chapter 18

**If you don't recall, it was Tantomile, Coricopat, Rumpleteazer, and Mungojerrie in this group.****Actually, I had been planning on a time skip. But a new idea just formed in my mind. Maybe I won't have to now. **

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_Tantomile's P.O.V._

I gazed at my brother with mild disgust. I mean... how, how _dare_ he? I mean, we have a mind connection, for God's sake! He was falling in love with that... that, _disgusting _thief. And, from what I could tell based on expressions and what I could hear from Cori in the connection, her feelings were mutual. I hated it. So much. I also disliked not being able to reach out to other Jellicles; or even the other mystics. There was pain in my soul that we'd had to split, and that I may or may not see the others again. I mean, no one knows anymore! Well, some people might think I would, out of everyone, but all I can See now is random, occasionally painful, and there's almost always a flash of white light. I haven't been able to work out what it means. At all.

We were in some quaint town that looked a lot like where the Junkyard had been, but this one had more buildings, and, sadly, no junkyard. We just sort of wandered and slept in whatever we find. We were, however, well-fed, mostly because of the other twins' unique acrobatic abilities. That they use with no good intentions. I scowled. At the time being, we were on the roof of an apartment building we'd found, all in cat form. Mungojerrie was on the ledge, one hind leg dangling over the side. Which proves, of course, his mental capacity. Rumpleteazer was curled up under the ledge her brother was sitting on, tail over paws. At least she's a little smarter. Coricopat was sitting next to her, their fur touching. And I was diagonal from Rumpleteazer, sitting up, tail tucked neatly over my paws. The other three were talking, laughing, bantering, the works, but I was too worked up and furious to take part in any of it.

Suddenly I felt myself being pulled from reality, and my paw shot out to hit Coricopat. Another vision.

In short, I saw the Hidden Paw standing where Jerrie was laying right now.

Immediately, I pulled myself back, and Cori and I shared a look before I said, "We've got to leave. Right now. Jerrie, stay away from that wall!"

And with that Cori began packing what little things we had into his bag. "Don't take that!" I hissed, "We can't be slowed down at all! What if he's coming right now?"

With a shrug, my brother shouldered it anyway. Talk about stubborn. Although he had managed to shift without anyone noticing.

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were standing in the middle of the rooftop, sharing bewildered looks. "Don't just stand there!" I yowled, picking up Teazer's jeans and T-shirt with my paws, and flinging them at her. Not an easy thing to do. Jerrie, however, got the point and picked up his sweat pants and T-shirt without me having to tell him. Cori was standing by the edge of it, keeping watch and preparing to climb down about fifteen stories, and from there we could jump down. The easy part of being a DNA recombinant - weirds strength. We could jum the remaining like, eight stories without hurting ourselves. By this time I was already shifted and had my jeans and dark green T-shirt on, raring to go. Jerrie stumbled and stood next to me, while Teazer, attempting to outdo her brother, cartwheeled and almost kicked Cori in the face. The reason she didn't? He took a step back. Which threw him over the edge.

"Cori!" I screamed, instantly throwing myself to the make shift ladder (or, one of those fence-things going up a wall) we'd found, and slid down it, ignoring the splinters and pain I felt in my hands. I tried not to picture Cori's crumpled body on the ground, so far below. Tried not to imagine what I would be without him. Finally, I figured I was down far enough, and pushed myself off of it. Even though I knew there was no way I'd be able to catch him. To help him. I landed on the ground with such an impact, it felt as if the ground itself was shuddering. Maybe I'd thrown myself off too early. I didn't really care. Pain could wait. My brother's life couldn't.

Looking around, I didn't see him. Anywhere. And, to think of it, I didn't see the ridiculous, thieving, nasty, horrible twins either. If my brother was dead... and it was all her fault... she'd wish the scientists had never decided to create her in that testube. I threw myself to the ground, practically hissing, "Shit, Cori. Where _are _you?"

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**[A/N] BUM BUM BUM. I didn't intend it to turn out that way, it just did. Deal with it. Reviews make my day. Please?**


	19. Chapter 19

**Wow. This story is more popular than I thought - or it's just rapidly growing more popular. Whatever. **

**Truthfully, I'm not entirely sure how to carry on from here. I know EXACTLY how I want this to end - it's just a matter of getting there. And I have two questions, that you'll really be helping me out if you answer.**

**1. How do people end their stories on here? Is it like a 'FIN' thing, or...? I haven't ever officially ended stories like that. It was just sort of an "I'm done." thing.**

**2. Would you all hate me if I made a sequel that contained, well, some OC's? Or... I guess I could make it with these Jellicles (I already have ideas) but it wouldn't make as much sense. So... thoughts?**

**Seriously, if you answer these, it will be a tremendous help. Well... here goes...**

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I looked around from my spot on the ground desperately. I didn't know where anyone had gone. And I was hopelessly lost.

Frantically, I called out with my mind, not bothering to think what I would do if no one answered. Really, I was just calling out for any Jellicle, whether it be Bustopher Jones or Cori himself. _Anyone? A Jellicle? I need help!_

For a few minutes, where I felt my tear ducts were going to burst, but I didn't let a single tear leak out, there was no answer. None. Then, my spirits soared when someone thought back, _Is this Tantomile?_

Then I frowned, thinking. At first I thought it had been Jemima, but now it became evident that it wasn't. Who was it? Then it hit me.

_Sillabub!_

_Katie's P.O.V._

I frowned at Gerty's computer. I couldn't help but think that nothing good would come of this. But... I couldn't just not tell her anything, could I? In fact, it was a miracle that she was alive at all! Surely Macavity would have figured out that we'd had a strong bond by now, wouldn't he? Was Macavity's reign of power and domination over us finally slipping, now that we'd scattered? I snorted at that thought. I highly doubted it.

But what should I do about _this? _Caitlin, whom I hadn't even spared a thought for, had emailed me. I didn't really know where the others were. It was easy to get lost and separated in this _huge _house.

Anyway, here's what it said:

_Katie._

_Why, why, why, WHY didn't you tell me? I wouldn't have told! I swear! Why would I of? You were an awesome friend since the day you came here to me. I thought we'd told each other everything. Guess I was wrong. I wish I could join you, but based on the research they've been doing, it's too late for me. Well, I'd like to tell you that they've almost caught some of you. I don't know who. Just someone. But... I miss you guys. The school seems so empty without you all. I'm not kidding. It's like our population got cut in half. The house I'd thought you'd slept in, but was probably just a decoy, seems so lonely. And it seems like all the cats have just up and left town. You guys aren't all together anymore, are you? You're that all-white cat. Right? Rose is the rose-colored cat. Daisy's the striped black and yellow. Am I right? I can't believe I never noticed before. It escapes my capability of believing. But you guys all up and deserting like that proved that it was true. I'm hurt you didn't tell me, though. But... what's been happening? Where are you? Can I help in anyway possible? I'm definitely willing to._

_~Caitlin._

After reading it through again, I swiveled on my chair (which I probably spun in a little too much) and yelled through the open doorway, "Jules! Come here!" I waited for her in silence. Not being able to hear footsteps coming, or a response being called, was aggravating. You'd think I'd be used to it by now. But I wasn't. And I doubted I ever would be.

Jemmy slunk in after a few moments, walking the way we always did, almost like we were about to spring into a cat hunting crouch. Which, of course, is only noticable to us. The humans notice we walk strangely, but they never make the connection. Except for maybe Caitlin. I'd never really known with her. And truthfully, still didn't.

She yawned. "What, Katie?"

I moved my chair away on it's little wheels and gestured wordlessly to the computer. I saw Juliana's jaw drop and her mouth form a little o in surprise. Her eyes were wide.

"What do we do?" I asked her, knowing she wouldn't pull an 'Well, _I'm _going to..." blah blah blah, and leave me to sort the problem out by myself, like Etcetera would have.

"I don't know. Reply?"

Then we both froze. My jaw dropped. Why? Because, according to a message from Tantomile -the first we'd heard from her- by _brain_, Coricopat, Mungojerrie, and Rumpleteazer were missing. _After _she'd had a vision of Macavity standing where they'd been. And Coricopat had fallen off that roof they'd been on. Then gone missing. Who knows what state they were in?


	20. Chapter 20

**(I've had to rewrite this chapter four times. Let's hope it doesn't go to 5.)**

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It was getting harder and harder for me to see and make out what the others were saying. The rain, darkness, and exhaustion weren't helping.

We'd left Gerty's... maybe an hour ago. Honestly, I had no idea what time it was. I only knew it was raining like crazy, there was mud everywhere, Jemmy had kept up a constant stream of complaints, and Pounce was always touching me somehow - a hand on my shoulder, his hand brushing my waist, whatever. I just knew it was comforting.

Jemmy said something, moving wet hair out of her face, but I couldn't make out what it was. It wasn't directed at me either, but still. I looked at Pounce, who was slightly behind me, touching the tips of my hair with his fingertips, and said, "Listen, either don't say something to me, or sign - which... none of you are particularly good at. But I have no clue what you're talking about."

He nodded and said something to the other two. Jemmy's eyes were sad, and also reflecting the almost full moon (her eyes always seemed to reflect the moon, whether it's there or not). I knew it killed her, what had happened to me. I used to have a good voice. I doubt I do now. I used to hate dancing. Now I dance all the time, and I've gotten quite good at it. I can do all three splits without grimacing, which at least, given earlier circumstances, is a big improvement.

In a slight hope, I raised my nose to the breeze - which, of course, would be a more dignified thing to do if I were in cat form, but my senses were pretty much as good as a cat's now, except for my hearing, of course. I stopped moving. "They're up there. The hill." I started running, wrinkling my nose at the way my shoes sunk in the mud. Juliana had it easy. She had boots. My sneakers were thoroughly soaked, and I couldn't feel my feet.

Tyler easily overtook me, but Pounce didn't - he had stopped to help Jules up, because she had fallen. I reached the top of the hill, leaped up, and grabbed a thick branch. I swung back and forth for a moment, then flipped up and landed on the branch. Who says Jerrie and Teazer are the only ones who can do acrobatics?

When Peter passed underneath my branch, I slid down from it, knocking him onto the forest floor. Actually, it was a lot drier underneath the trees, so he didn't get coated in mud, thankfully - otherwise I'm sure he would've rolled me into it too. Instead Tyler, from the shadows, said, "C'mon, Katie. At least help him back up." Of course, I had a lot of trouble understanding him, but eventually I processed what he'd said.

"Fine," I grumbled, offering Pounce my hand.

Instead he took it and pulled me down on top of him. "Hey!" I protested, then started laughing. I sensed footsteps behind me. Jemmy. As small and mousy as she is, it's hard for her to keep up. She's shorter. And she seems to have the most problems with the mud.

I turned my head slightly. Pounce took that as an opportunity to wipe a streak of mud across my cheek. "Really?" I asked, trying to wipe it off with my shoulder.

He pulled me in closer. "You're fine," his sweet breath caressed my cheek, "we all look like mud statues anyway. You're perfect the way you are." That I made out with no problem, as his mouth was three inches from my face.

He pressed his lips to mine. All coherent thoughts went away, sliding from my brain like Jell-o. I didn't consider my probably way-beyond embarassed friends a few feet away. I didn't think about the two that were in these woods somewhere, one of them probably losing her mind in worry for her brother. It was just Pounce and me. As long as I had him, I'd be perfectly fine.

The magical moment ended. Freakish mutant hybrids or not, we still had to breathe. I got up after a moment. Pouncivul, always the gymnast, stood in a handstand then got back onto his feet.

"Come on," I said, feeling like my breath had been taken away, "they're this way."

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_"Sillabub!_" Juliana screamed, running towards her long-lost friend and grabbing her in a huge bear hug.

"I swear they have to share DNA of some sort," I muttered.

There was Sillabub, her black hair kind of glossy, not even wet. Hers was red underneath, I knew. I looked up. There was a ceiling constructed of leaves and branches above us, neatly woven together. The work of Sillabub. Not a drop of water came through. Tantomile sat with her back against a tree, head to knees, silver hair covering her face.

Sillabub was wearing a T-shirt that had become a tank-top over time. It was faded black, and still bore a little bit of the old _Muse _logo that used to be on it - one of her favorite bands. Her shorts were ripped denim that came to a little above her knees. I don't know how the girl doesn't freeze.

Sillabub had tried living with us for a while, but she'd decided it wasn't for her. She loved being in cat form, and hadn't wanted to stick around with Jenny all day. We figured she was one of the ones who was originally supposed to be a cat. But we honestly have clue why she and Jemima look so much alike, even though they were... constructed, at different labs.

Tantomile met my gaze. Her dark eyes were dull. "Is she okay?" I asked Sillabub.

She shook her head. "I don't think so. She's in some serious pain from being so far from Cory."

Jemmy looked at me sadly. We'd always known to keep the twins together at all costs. It was her and me who came up with the conclusion that the twins had been meant to be one person.

"That's why I hate living like this. We never really know for sure what's wrong, or what's gonna happen next. One of us could drop dead in the next couple seconds because of a fail somewhere in our genes... Ow!" I said really loudly, clapping my hands over my ears. They'd started ringing again, and it being the first sound I'd heard in months, it felt as if someone were screaming into a bullhorn right in my ear. I dropped to my knees and curled up into a ball.

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**[A/N] I SWORE I was going to get this chapter up today. I feel so bad for not posting anything recently. So that's why I'm here, ten minutes to midnight, typing this. xD**

**Accept my apology?**


	21. Chapter 21

**I feel a little mean...**

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Gradually, the ringing got quieter, then stopped completely. Pounce was in front of me, all seriousness. Jules and Tyler were over by Tantomile, looking concerned for both her and me. Sillabub was nowhere to be seen - she was probably getting us food or something.

"You okay?" Peter asked, his dark eyes concerned.

"No." I complained, standing back up.

"What was it?"

"My ears started ringing like they used to, but after all the nothingness I've been hearing, it sounded like a train whistle right beside me combined with a loud honk from a truck." Well, that was a lovely way of putting it. But, truthfully, it had been awful. If only because I'd thought I'd might be able to hear again. No such luck.

"Can... can you hear again?" Jules asked, I think. The moonlight didn't travel well through the trees and the roof Sillabub had built, so I had trouble making things out.

"No." I couldn't help it. A tear went down my cheek and hit the otherwise dry forest floor. I had been so, _so _close.

Pounce pulled me into a hug, obviously sensing how disappointed I was. That's when the tears started really flowing. These three mutants, at least (Pounce, Jemima, and Tumblebrutus) felt what I was going through the most. They realized, unlike the others, that I didn't hear as much as I let on. Some people just took it for granted that I could read lips, or sense vibrations. These three were careful. They knew.

Eventually, the shaky breaths subsided. "Now," I said decisively, "on to finding Cori, and the other twins. Tantomile, can you send out any more brain messages without, like, tearing your brain in two? Jem, we can use your phone too."

Tantomile looked like she was in a little more pain for a moment, then nodded. "I can get Cettie's group. They're the only ones that are close enough for me to get. If Cori was here..." She trailed off. "Anyway, I'll get them."

So, using mostly Jules's phone, and a little bit of Tanto's powers, we got the word out that the other Jellicles should come. That Coricopat, Teazer, and Jerrie had been taken from Macavity. That everyone should be braced for a fight.

* * *

I swear the word was out for no less than fifteen minutes before Misto materialized with Cettie, Electra, and Plato in tow. Cettie opened her mouth -probably squealing or something- and hug-tackled-pounced me.

I laughed, "Missed you too."

Mistoffelees and Tumble were talking about something, and then Misto nodded, and disappeared. "No more smoke with his teleport," I said, "I'm impressed."

Lec laughed from her spot near Tantomile.

Sillabub walked in then -I'm not sure if she even has a human name anymore- looked around, and laughed. I guess this was like a huge reunion to her. Electra hugged her. Those two and Jem had been really close when Sillabub lived with us.

Jem yawned. "I'm tired. Sleep is needed." I looked around. I figured it'd be better if we shifted to sleep, to save room.

I slipped behind a couple of trees, took my clothes off, then shifted. Being a cat made it a heck of a lot easier to see.

Jeans, sneakers, T-shirt, and sweatshirt stuffed into my mouth, I made it back to the clearing where everyone was.

Electra laughed. "I believe Vicky's conveying a message." With the better senses, I could now tell what she was saying. Which was a huge relief.

"She has a good point, though. Our cat selves run higher body temps, plus, wet clothes are pains in the butts. Plus, I haven't been in cat form in _forever." _Cettie told her.

Sillabub rolled her eyes at them. "So I broke into my clothing store and shifted into human for nothing?"

"Yep." Jemmy told her, her eyes alight with laughter.

That's when the others froze, and I felt every single hair on my pelt rise. Turning my head slightly, I saw Macavity -human form- mouth open in the most evil laughter I've ever known. Even not hearing it made me feel like bolting. That's when I realized he had blue sparks crackling at his glowing hands. That's also when I noticed those hands were pointed at me.

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**[A/N] Now I REALLY feel mean. Sorry I've been horribly inactive on here recently. :/**


	22. Chapter 22

**I swear, I will do the best in my power not to leave you guys hanging for that long again. March is just a really crappy time of year for me, if you recall. Especially around today- the 27th.**

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Sheer instinct drove me to dive to the side, bowling into Pounce and Tumble, when I saw the flash of lightning shoot from his hands. The ground was smoking where I had been moments before. Macavity's mouth opened again, and his (assumed) laugh sent shivers down my spine, even though I couldn't hear it. He then disappeared in another bolt of lightning.

"Shit." Was the first thing that came to mind, and the first thing that poured out of my mouth. Even though the others were human, and I was cat (at the time being) they all understood me.

Pounce was staring at the smoking spot on the ground. A couple curse words came out of his mouth. Tyler mouthed (or said, maybe), "Shift back." I nodded, grabbing my clothes in my jaws again, and went back into the wet forest.

Shifting quickly, feeling myself stretch, feeling the fur recede, my headfur go longer, my ears completely change. I slapped on my wet clothes, rolling my shoulders.

The others were arguing when I got back, talking way too quickly for my tired brain to follow. Instead, I sat down next to Tantomile. Her silvery, kind of coppery hair lay in a mess around her face. She looked up at me with tear-filled eyes, which was a definite change from the usually expressionless Tantomile. "I'm sorry," she said, "it's all his fault - my fault - her fault. I don't know anymore!"

I wasn't positive who she was talking about. Cori, Teazer, and herself, maybe? Jerrie, Teazer, and herself? I don't know. "Tanto, it's okay. No one but your brother and them are possibly hurt. We're going to get them back."

Then Misto turned around, sniffing the air. A big grin formed on his face. "Old Deuteronomy?"

Tantomile stiffened, and she too sniffed. "I believe it is Old Deuteronomy." I'm not entirely sure if she sang or spoke. Kind of hard for me to tell.

I smelled the air, and... caught no one's sent but our own. Stupid psychics.

I saw Jenny first. Electra bolted towards her, hugging/tackling her. Jenny somehow managed to stay upright, and held her arm open towards Etcetera. I'd never really been close to Jenny. Being towards the older ones, I had never really looked to a motherly figure. Then he stepped into our clearing. Old Deteronomy.

My turn to bolt. I ran an enveloped him in a big hug. I didn't tackle him like Electra had to Jenny, if only because I knew he was older, and probably wouldn't have been able to take it. He pulled Misto into a hug too. We'd both looked to Old D when we'd needed help. After all of this, I needed my "dad". In most aspects, he was our father, just not by blood. I'd been created, Misto had been as well. Hence the strange way his genes worked.

Tyler and Plato hung out awkwardly at the sides. If anything, they'd looked to Gus when they needed it. Tantomile was too far out of it to do any running of her own.

Old D tottered his way over to her. In human form, Old Deuteronomy was... well, black. He didn't look really tan like Cori or Tantomile did. His long hair was a dark brown, much like his coat as a cat.

He rested his hand on her head. She looked up at him, with tear tracks down her face, but she didn't look pained anymore. I made out two words: Thank you.

* * *

And so the group of Jellicles assembled. The rain eventually stopped. But... it developed into snow. A grumpy Cettie was glaring at the sky, as if she could see through the roof of leaves Sillabub had made, and physically stop the snow from falling. Sillabub was catching up with the others, talking with Old D, Jenny, Skimble, Plato, and Tantomile was sitting near them, but I don't know how much she was listening. I was laying down on my back, staring at the roof of leaves above me, totally lost in thought.

That's why, when someone put their hand in mine, I jumped as high as one can while lying down.

Obviously, it was Pounce. He was grinning impishly. "Skittish," he said, "skittish as a cat."

This was a remark deserving a shove. After he'd received his punishment, I sunk back down to the ground, facing him rather then the containing leaves. "You're really okay?" He asked, still upset over the lightning incident earlier.

I nodded. "Just really tired."

"Then you," He said, smiling, "lay back down, and close your eyes. I'm not going anywhere."

I didn't really want to listen to him, but the desire for sleep overtook defiance. Still holding his hand, I rolled back over onto my side, and snuggled into his chest. Enjoying the peace, I shut my eyes and let sleep take over.

Looking back on it, I shouldn't of gone to sleep. I should have relished the moment with Pounce. Because it was one of the last moments we'd have.

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**[A/N] I really and truly feel mean now. Well... Uh...**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey! Fellow authors! Let's band together and get Sucker Punch under that Movies listing, eh? (Sorry. Just a little obsessed with that movie. Don't listen to critics. It was awesome.) Anyway, on with the... story!**

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The next day, a basic plan was constructed. Of course, we had no clue where Macavity and his army of regular cat yahoos was hiding out, so we couldn't just storm some big, dark scary castle. (Even though Electra and I were in perfect agreement that it had to be a castle. The others ignored us, of course.) We kept working Tantomile closer to England, a whole bunch of us moving through the forests when we could, or small towns when we couldn't. I tried to walk normally, rather than in the kind of slouchy way we usually did. The feral gleam in our eyes none of us could help.

Sillabub really knew her way around. She led us calmly towards England. Electra and I got excited when we learned there _were_ castles in England. Give us a break, we've only been out here, in this world, I guess you could say, for two years and a number of months.

Tantomile said she was getting better, and suddenly we found ourselves in front of an old, beat up, overgrown castle. But it definitely was a castle. Just not a well maintained one. Tantomile had stopped and was staring at it in wonder. "He's in there." She said with a huge look of disbelief on her face.

Electra and I were grinning at each other. Pounce was laughing, I think.

The whole group of us backed up, back into the forest. Then I noticed Pounce was glaring at the castle with more hatred than I've ever seen anyone show. "What's eating you?" I asked him, not drawing the rest of the group's attention, surprisingly.

"I don't want you out there. After seeing him almost smoke you. You wouldn't hear them approaching. I don't want you out there."

"Pounce, do you honestly think I need your permission? This is for Cori, Jerrie, and Teazer. We're three fighters -maybe even more, if Gus and Grizabella, and Old D don't fight- short already. I'm still young, still healthy. I'm not blind. My eyes are, like, a hundred times better than yours. No one's going to be able to take me out." Easily, I added to myself.

"You're stubborn like a cat too." He said. I shoved him. Again.

Then I decided to pay attention to the others. Munkustrap was asking, "Tantomile, can you tell how many of them there are?"

She had her eyes closed in concentration. "We're an even match for them. Especially if Old Deuteronomy manipulates things from back here."

"Even if we send a search party in after your brother and the twins?" He asked her.

"It depends," she looked at him with those distant, brown eyes, "how big of a search party are we talking?"

"You, Electra, Exotica, Tugger, and Cassandra would be enough." He says, looking for people with darker fur - easier to blend into the shadows. Of course, we weren't fighting as us being human and them being cats. That would be stupid. Cats are faster, more agile, are equipped with more weapons... If you think we could beat them as humans, well... you should study us Jellicles a little more.

"When do we attack?" Alonzo asked. His arm was around Cassandra protectively. I smiled to myself. Toms. Toms, toms, toms.

"Tonight." Munkustrap said. "We get Coricopat, Rumpleteazer, and Mungojerrie back tonight." While the others cheered, I slipped away, untangling myself from Pounce. I'm not scared of fights or anything. The "smart" scientists had given us all battle training, so it wasn't like I was unprepared. Besides all the testosterone in that clearing, something just felt... off. I should have listened to that feeling. I should have told someone. I made a lot of mistakes around that time. Too many. It was all my fault. All of it.


	24. Chapter 24

**I'm not entirely sure what was with last chapter. To me, it seems off. Anyway...**

**(Possible violence? I'm not sure what to consider it. It's a battle scene, at any rate.)**

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I watched in interest as the full moon rose above the trees. It was a full moon, but not the Jellicle Moon. I'm pretty sure we all had the compulsive need to feel artsy, but we all had to ignore it. Singing and dancing during a battle might be okay in movies and musicals and such, but in reality it would be plain stupid. And if your one of those people who thinks that would be a good idea, get your head checked. Tell the doctor the deaf cat-human told you to.

Tantomile and her little party of dark-furred cats had gone in already. Munkustrap and the others were scouting a bit, then were going to purposely lead the not-so-bright (regular cat) hench-cats out to the rest of us. I was currently on a big, white rock, which my fur obviously blended perfectly into. I pulled my eyes down from the sky, remembering that the light could be seen reflecting off my eyes very easily if I looked up.

With my super-night vision, I could even make out Jemima, down under a bush. She'd been blending into bushes since we were kits (kids? child-mutants?) at the lab and they'd let us go out for battle training or something. She'd always beat me, because the white fur just doesn't do for trying to sneak past, unnoticed. Etcetera was impossible for any of us to beat, even with the white fur. We always told her that they must have spiked her food with something, because that girl was always one big ball of energy. Or maybe, now that I think about, there's a failure somewhere in her genes. We can never be sure.

I squinted, trying to keep the light from reflecting off my eyes. I saw our Jellicles come out. Behind them came a mass of dark-furred hench-cats. My heart completely sank. There was no way we could beat that many without serious injuries, even if we were all relatively skilled fighters and they were barely trained. Had Tantomile gotten something wrong? Or was she so upset about Cori that she would lead us all into a hopeless battle just to get him back? I mean, yeah, their genetics and brains were totally screwed up (we can all thank scientists for that one), but that wouldn't drive her to send us all into a massacre, would it?

No. I couldn't doubt my tribemates now. Just keep myself alive. The others will do the same.

When they finally came sniffing around where we were, Plato gave a nod from his spot in a tree. We'd all been trained for this, not just the fighting, but the ability to climb things like squirrels and ambush our enemies from them.

I launched myself from the rock with a lot of force. I relished the moment in the air, the wind whipping through my fur, until I focused on a dark tabby below me, about my size. When you fight by yourself, even if you have a gang or something helping you, you don't choose to fight anyone larger than yourself. Don't get cocky. You will get hurt, even if you do somehow win. Let the toms/boys handle the larger cats/humans. I landed on her back and dug my claws in. I'm not squeamish about fighting, but that doesn't mean I like it. I felt the blood well up beneath my claws. She bucked a couple times, trying to throw me off, but let's face it. Normal cat genes are no match against genetically enhanced genes.

Since I was deaf (obviously) I didn't hear any yowls or hisses, whether they be for help or aggression. I also didn't hear the footsteps of the cat who came up behind me, grabbed me by the throat, and dragged me off of the she-cat I'd attacked.

Going against my natural instinct to struggle futilely, I went limp for a moment, my back paws brushing the ground. I dug my claws in it, bunched up my muscles, and sprang upwards, breaking the hold on my neck. I held still for a moment, gauging how badly I was hurt, and deciding it was a really shallow wound, surveyed the two cats before me. The one who'd pulled me off was too large for me to fight even without the other enemy. My tail brushed a tree behind me. _That works,_ I thought.

I scaled it quickly, standing on a semi-low branch. The large tom was trying to climb up after me. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but hench-cats are really stupid. They're just random street cats Macavity plucked off the roads and gave basic battle training. Well, the tom gave up, and rejoined the mass of claws and flailing cats. The she-cat was glaring at me with yellow eyes. A snarl from me and she joined the mass too. I spotted Jemima in the crowd by her scarlet fur, struggling against a tom much larger than her. I'm surprised these hench-cats haven't been genetically modified too, for how large they are.

But I raced down and threw myself on the tom, actually getting a hold on his neck. I said I'm not squeamish about fighting. I am, however, squeamish about killing. By general rule, most Jellicles try not to kill, only injure enough to get them to run away. Jem was clawing at the dark brown tom's belly. Her tail flicked my back. "Enough." She said, and I unclamped my jaws. The tom limped away. I glanced around, seeing we were holding our own. Munkustrap was taking on two queens half his size, and as I watched, he swatted one into a thorn bush with his paw. No problem there. I couldn't find Pounce amongst the mob of cats. I saw a black and gold flash go past, Demeter chasing a queen a little smaller than her, swatting the queen with an unsheathed claw when she could manage.

Jem had disappeared again. I threw myself at a hench-cat, biting his ear swiftly, making him wince in pain. That instant was enough. I raked my claws down his side. He turned tail and ran off. Coward. Then I saw him. The ginger tom. Looking quite pissed off, there Macavity was. A rib-thin cat. Surveying the scene through narrowed, sunken-in eyes. His fur, as usual, was a dusty, dirty mess. I was vaguely aware of a small, black and brown splotched queen nip my ear. Totally entranced in watching Macavity, I merely shoved her into Plato, who turned on her.

Macavity caught my eye. Grinning. Raising his electrified paws. Pointing them at me. A flash of blue. A brown, white, and black form diving infront of me. My fascination with Macavity dissolved as all hell broke loose that night.


	25. Chapter 25

**...Do you all hate me yet?**

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Collapsing. My legs unable to hold me. Not from physical pain. Emotional. Disbelief. I didn't have to look, didn't have to check. Pouncival had taken the blow for me. And the blow had killed him. Unable to do anything but stare. No tears. Not yet. Looking at Macavity. His mouth open in that sinister laughter.

Suddenly I was hit by intense hatred. I'd never gotten that angry at someone, and probably never will. Rage blinds me, but I know attacking him would kill me too. This actually started to seem like a good option though. Someone brushing against me. One of ours. Sillabub. She's looking at me, not saying anything. Probably can't. I know I couldn't. She holds attackers back while I stare. Stare and plan. Macavity was watching me, obviously wondering what I was going to do. Not taking my eyes off of him, I said to Sillabub, "Keep him safe." Forced my voice to work. She understood somehow.

I slipped into the undergrowth. Wanting to scream, to cry, to go and kill him. Possibly all three. Currently it seemed all I could do was plan, trying to work through the haze shock had caused in my brain. Pacing. Then an idea. Then hating myself for it. Deciding to do it anyway.

Racing out of the undergrowth. Macavity wasn't there. I settled for letting every curse word I knew out of my mouth, hoping he'd pick it up somehow. And I knew some colorful ones, as Cettie enjoyed biting the scientists at the lab as a kit, and her cage had been next to mine.

The world felt different now. Isolated. I could think about the past, but it felt like it was part of another life. A different Victoria. The new one was a robot version. Isolated from everyone. Unable to comprehend.

The goon hench-cats seem to realize their leader had disappeared, and were retreating, probably hissing.

I wasn't focused on them. Could care less about them.

Jellicles ran up. Words poured out of their mouths. I couldn't understand - didn't really care.

"I'm going to sleep now," I said to no one in particular. And like I had so many nights before, I curled up next to Pounce to go to sleep.

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**[A/N] Short chapter is short. But I think only epilogue next. I DO have an idea for a sequel, but the jury's still out on whether or not it'll get posted. **


	26. Chapter 26

**The last chapter! Not in Victoria's P.O.V! A sequel's being thought of (a couple artsy-fartsy friends and myself are debating the plot and whether or not it'll come out Mary Sue-ish or not), and I'll post a chapter to this if I post it, saying something like: Hey! I made a sequel! The title is this:...**

**And, the last chapter of A Hidden Life begins... NOW.**

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Victoria woke up during the middle of the day. It wasn't the sunlight that bothered here, it hadn't been Sillabub kicking her tail in her sleep, it had been Jemima's snoring.

Without opening her eyes, Victoria complained to Jemima, shoving her with a back paw, "Jem, close that damn mouth of yours. Some of us have memories we need to sleep through."

Jemima blinked awake, her blue eyes dull with sleep, squinting in the sunlight. "What, Vick?" She asked.

Eyes still closed, Victoria muttered, "You snore. I'm requesting that you stop doing so."

Jemima understood it first. "Victoria," she said, barely able to contain her excitement, "think really hard about what you just said."

Victoria rolled over and looked at her. Icy blue eyes confused. Then they widened. "Oh. My. God." She stood up, ears pointing straight up. It didn't matter that her fur was dull and matted. Didn't matter that the blood that had spattered her fur hadn't come out. That look of pure joy on her face wasn't changed. Regardless of the messy fur, she was still beautiful to me. She was still my Victoria.

"Jem, Jem, Jem, Jem!" Her voice rose to a squeal worthy of Etcetera. "I can hear again!" She'd woken up Sillabub now. Etcetera and Electra, who were also near them, did not wake up, as they can sleep through loud explosions.

Victoria could hear again, and she always will be able to. As myself, Pouncival, reached Heaviside, I was welcomed into our godesses's arms. Everlasting Cat's arms. She'd told me that Victoria and I were soul mates - that we'd always be able to find each other again. She'd given me the opportunity to return to earth, to return to Victoria.

I chose to stay for a little longer - maybe another couple hundred years. I'm waiting for my Victoria, my soul mate. I don't mind it. I just can't wait to see her again. Instead, I asked Everlasting Cat for a favor. I'd asked her if she could give my Victoria her hearing back. She hadn't even hesitated. Victoria was deaf no longer.

I considered this my final gift to her. Back down on Earth, she was debating things with Sillabub and Jemima, completely awake now.

Sillabub nodded, agreeing to Victoria's theory. "It makes sense. Not twenty-four hours after he, you know... died. You get your hearing back."

Victoria turned her icy blue eyes to the endless blue sky, and said, "Thank-you, Pouncival."

In this way, I'd made it so Victoria didn't have to hide as much anymore. She didn't have to hide how helpless and frustrated she had been. In a way, I'd made Victoria's hidden life a little less hidden.

_~Fin._


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